10. Anna Karenina: "Anna" suffered from distancing devices that would have made it impossible to care about Anna, even if she were played by someone OTHER than Keira Knightley. Tied with . . .

Image 1 of 11 - Worst Films of 2012

10. Anna Karenina: "Anna" suffered from distancing devices that would have made it impossible to care about Anna, even if she were played by someone OTHER than Keira Knightley. Tied with . . .

10. Anna Karenina: "Anna" suffered from distancing devices that would...have made it impossible to care about Anna, even if she were played by...someone OTHER than Keira Knightley. Tied with . . .

Image 2 of 11|Worst Films of 2012

10. The Hobbit: One third of a story inflated way beyond the bursting point into three hours of CGI battle scenes that suffocated the little life and humanity there. "Anna Karenina" and "The Hobbit" have in common that they're meticulously made, by exceptional filmmakers, and yet are awful.

Image 2 of 11 - Worst Films of 2012

10. The Hobbit: One third of a story inflated way beyond the bursting point into three hours of CGI battle scenes that suffocated the little life and humanity there. "Anna Karenina" and "The Hobbit" have in common that they're meticulously made, by exceptional filmmakers, and yet are awful.

10. The Hobbit: One third of a story inflated way beyond the bursting...point into three hours of CGI battle scenes that suffocated the little...life and humanity there. "Anna Karenina" and "The Hobbit" have in...common that they're meticulously made, by exceptional filmmakers, and...yet are awful.

Image 3 of 11|Worst Films of 2012

9. "The Bourne Legacy": This death rattle of the Bourne series starred Jeremy Renner, in a thoroughly opaque thriller that assumed audiences had just seen all three Bourne movies the night before and had committed every detail to memory. Therefore everyone was supposed to know what Blackbriar and Alcom referred to and why this was a direct threat to national security! This was never really explained, and even Rachel Weisz, as a scientist everyone wants to kill (for some reason or other), couldn't lift the proceedings.

Image 3 of 11 - Worst Films of 2012

9. "The Bourne Legacy": This death rattle of the Bourne series starred Jeremy Renner, in a thoroughly opaque thriller that assumed audiences had just seen all three Bourne movies the night before and had committed every detail to memory. Therefore everyone was supposed to know what Blackbriar and Alcom referred to and why this was a direct threat to national security! This was never really explained, and even Rachel Weisz, as a scientist everyone wants to kill (for some reason or other), couldn't lift the proceedings.

9. "The Bourne Legacy": This death rattle of the Bourne series...starred Jeremy Renner, in a thoroughly opaque thriller that assumed...audiences had just seen all three Bourne movies the night before and...had committed every detail to memory. Therefore everyone was supposed...to know what Blackbriar and Alcom referred to and why this was a...direct threat to national security! This was never really explained,...and even Rachel Weisz, as a scientist everyone wants to kill (for some...reason or other), couldn't lift the proceedings.

Image 4 of 11|Worst Films of 2012

8. "That's My Boy": There are two kinds of Adam Sandler movies, and this was the worst kind, the kind in which he plays a comic character, not a version of himself. Playing the dissolute slob-father of a young man who is about to be married, Sandler tried to do a comic character, while all the while commenting on the character he was creating, as if unwilling to commit to it. He was terrible. And the movie was nonstop vulgar, coarse and witless.

Image 4 of 11 - Worst Films of 2012

8. "That's My Boy": There are two kinds of Adam Sandler movies, and this was the worst kind, the kind in which he plays a comic character, not a version of himself. Playing the dissolute slob-father of a young man who is about to be married, Sandler tried to do a comic character, while all the while commenting on the character he was creating, as if unwilling to commit to it. He was terrible. And the movie was nonstop vulgar, coarse and witless.

8. "That's My Boy": There are two kinds of Adam Sandler movies, and...this was the worst kind, the kind in which he plays a comic character,...not a version of himself. Playing the dissolute slob-father of a young...man who is about to be married, Sandler tried to do a comic character,...while all the while commenting on the character he was creating, as if...unwilling to commit to it. He was terrible. And the movie was nonstop...vulgar, coarse and witless.

Image 5 of 11|Worst Films of 2012

7. "For Greater Glory": This history of the Cristero War in Mexico was so ineptly made that even the opening scroll was confusing. The movie started off as the story of a successful struggle, then shifted to a tale of moral victory in the face of defeat. And an insistent soundtrack telegraphed every emotion throughout.

Image 5 of 11 - Worst Films of 2012

7. "For Greater Glory": This history of the Cristero War in Mexico was so ineptly made that even the opening scroll was confusing. The movie started off as the story of a successful struggle, then shifted to a tale of moral victory in the face of defeat. And an insistent soundtrack telegraphed every emotion throughout.

7. "For Greater Glory": This history of the Cristero War in Mexico...was so ineptly made that even the opening scroll was confusing. The...movie started off as the story of a successful struggle, then shifted...to a tale of moral victory in the face of defeat. And an insistent...soundtrack telegraphed every emotion throughout.

Image 6 of 11|Worst Films of 2012

6. "Chicken With Plums": An agony of bad plotting and whimsical, lifeless scenes, Marjane Satrapi's first live action film told the story of a forlorn, chain-smoking violinist who, in the movie's first 10 minutes, decides to die. He gets into bed and doesn't die until the end of the movie. By then, half the audience is dead.

Image 6 of 11 - Worst Films of 2012

6. "Chicken With Plums": An agony of bad plotting and whimsical, lifeless scenes, Marjane Satrapi's first live action film told the story of a forlorn, chain-smoking violinist who, in the movie's first 10 minutes, decides to die. He gets into bed and doesn't die until the end of the movie. By then, half the audience is dead.

6. "Chicken With Plums": An agony of bad plotting and whimsical,...lifeless scenes, Marjane Satrapi's first live action film told the...story of a forlorn, chain-smoking violinist who, in the movie's first...10 minutes, decides to die. He gets into bed and doesn't die until...the end of the movie. By then, half the audience is dead.

Image 7 of 11|Worst Films of 2012

5. "Mansome": Morgan Spurlock cannot afford another lazy, self-loving, celebrity coddling documentary like this one. He takes a topic of genuine sociological interest -- male grooming over the years -- but he doesn't really explore it. The first quarter of the movie is a meditation on whether he should shave his mustache. (Who does he think he is, David Axelrod?) The rest is a series of empty-headed interviews with various celebrities who even know less about what they're talking about than Spurlock does. Looking at a blank screen for 82 minutes would be a less empty experience.

Image 7 of 11 - Worst Films of 2012

5. "Mansome": Morgan Spurlock cannot afford another lazy, self-loving, celebrity coddling documentary like this one. He takes a topic of genuine sociological interest -- male grooming over the years -- but he doesn't really explore it. The first quarter of the movie is a meditation on whether he should shave his mustache. (Who does he think he is, David Axelrod?) The rest is a series of empty-headed interviews with various celebrities who even know less about what they're talking about than Spurlock does. Looking at a blank screen for 82 minutes would be a less empty experience.

5. "Mansome": Morgan Spurlock cannot afford another lazy,...self-loving, celebrity coddling documentary like this one. He takes a...topic of genuine sociological interest -- male grooming over the years...-- but he doesn't really explore it. The first quarter of the movie...is a meditation on whether he should shave his mustache. (Who does he...think he is, David Axelrod?) The rest is a series of empty-headed...interviews with various celebrities who even know less about what...they're talking about than Spurlock does. Looking at a blank screen...for 82 minutes would be a less empty experience.

Image 8 of 11|Worst Films of 2012

4. "A Little Bit of Heaven": This might be the worst movie about a serious illness ever made, with Kate Hudson as an imbecile who finds herself with every dire symptom of colon cancer and keeps cracking jokes, even up to the colonoscopy, and when the doctor says he's going to have to do biopsies, she goes off on her merry way, unconcerned. If you're going to do a movie about a terrible illness that kills thousands upon thousands every year, have respect for the actual experience of those people and their physical and emotional suffering. This movie was a joke.

Image 8 of 11 - Worst Films of 2012

4. "A Little Bit of Heaven": This might be the worst movie about a serious illness ever made, with Kate Hudson as an imbecile who finds herself with every dire symptom of colon cancer and keeps cracking jokes, even up to the colonoscopy, and when the doctor says he's going to have to do biopsies, she goes off on her merry way, unconcerned. If you're going to do a movie about a terrible illness that kills thousands upon thousands every year, have respect for the actual experience of those people and their physical and emotional suffering. This movie was a joke.

4. "A Little Bit of Heaven": This might be the worst movie about a...serious illness ever made, with Kate Hudson as an imbecile who finds...herself with every dire symptom of colon cancer and keeps cracking...jokes, even up to the colonoscopy, and when the doctor says he's going...to have to do biopsies, she goes off on her merry way, unconcerned. ...If you're going to do a movie about a terrible illness that kills...thousands upon thousands every year, have respect for the actual...experience of those people and their physical and emotional suffering....This movie was a joke.

Image 9 of 11|Worst Films of 2012

3. "The Three Stooges": This is what's odd. The three actors they got to play The Three Stooges -- they weren't bad at imitating The Three Stooges. Clearly they put some work into this. And yet the result was more than the death of comedy, but rather the death, burial, decomposition and putrefaction of comedy. They did a decent imitation, and yet they ended up as funny as an industrial accident, which goes to prove that not everyone can do it. The Stooges had something, after all.

Image 9 of 11 - Worst Films of 2012

3. "The Three Stooges": This is what's odd. The three actors they got to play The Three Stooges -- they weren't bad at imitating The Three Stooges. Clearly they put some work into this. And yet the result was more than the death of comedy, but rather the death, burial, decomposition and putrefaction of comedy. They did a decent imitation, and yet they ended up as funny as an industrial accident, which goes to prove that not everyone can do it. The Stooges had something, after all.

3. "The Three Stooges": This is what's odd. The three actors they...got to play The Three Stooges -- they weren't bad at imitating The...Three Stooges. Clearly they put some work into this. And yet the...result was more than the death of comedy, but rather the death,...burial, decomposition and putrefaction of comedy. They did a decent...imitation, and yet they ended up as funny as an industrial accident,...which goes to prove that not everyone can do it. The Stooges had...something, after all.

Image 10 of 11|Worst Films of 2012

2. "John Carter": This movie starts off with a protracted battle scene, in which the audience doesn't know who's fighting and doesn't know who they should be rooting for. And that was just the first mistake in this misbegotten "Avatar" wannabe, which, despite considerable competition, had some of the worst 3-D effects of the year.

Image 10 of 11 - Worst Films of 2012

2. "John Carter": This movie starts off with a protracted battle scene, in which the audience doesn't know who's fighting and doesn't know who they should be rooting for. And that was just the first mistake in this misbegotten "Avatar" wannabe, which, despite considerable competition, had some of the worst 3-D effects of the year.

2. "John Carter": This movie starts off with a protracted battle...scene, in which the audience doesn't know who's fighting and doesn't...know who they should be rooting for. And that was just the first...mistake in this misbegotten "Avatar" wannabe, which, despite...considerable competition, had some of the worst 3-D effects of the...year.

Image 11 of 11|Worst Films of 2012

1. "This Means War": Two CIA agents, competing for the same woman (Reese Witherspoon), start spying on her with sophisticated surveillance equipment, in between leaving the office to go kill dozens of people, something that doesn't faze them in the slightest. The movie was a missive from a horrible place, a still-fictional but possible future world in which bullying is lovable, brutality is sport, and power is free to rampage; in which people are not human but sub-human, smiling, craving veneers without souls. But the creepiest thing about the movie was that no one, either in front or behind the camera, noticed it was creepy. To all concerned, this was just a jolly romantic comedy.

Image 11 of 11 - Worst Films of 2012

1. "This Means War": Two CIA agents, competing for the same woman (Reese Witherspoon), start spying on her with sophisticated surveillance equipment, in between leaving the office to go kill dozens of people, something that doesn't faze them in the slightest. The movie was a missive from a horrible place, a still-fictional but possible future world in which bullying is lovable, brutality is sport, and power is free to rampage; in which people are not human but sub-human, smiling, craving veneers without souls. But the creepiest thing about the movie was that no one, either in front or behind the camera, noticed it was creepy. To all concerned, this was just a jolly romantic comedy.

1. "This Means War": Two CIA agents, competing for the same woman...(Reese Witherspoon), start spying on her with sophisticated...surveillance equipment, in between leaving the office to go kill...dozens of people, something that doesn't faze them in the slightest....The movie was a missive from a horrible place, a still-fictional but...possible future world in which bullying is lovable, brutality is...sport, and power is free to rampage; in which people are not human but...sub-human, smiling, craving veneers without souls. But the creepiest...thing about the movie was that no one, either in front or behind the...camera, noticed it was creepy. To all concerned, this was just a...jolly romantic comedy.